LONDON UNDERGROUND
Maintenance is changing T
Reg Cook and Cathy Whittall of Telent explain the value to the rail industry of asset condition monitoring.
elent, the leading name in systems and asset management, has been providing maintenance of communications systems to the rail industry for more than 15 years.
Part of Telent’s success has been not just integrating and maintaining an asset, but also our focus on prolonging an asset’s performance and service life.
Driven by genuine customer needs, in this case the greater than normal demand for continuous service and reduced asset failures during the 2012 Olympics, Telent developed an Asset Condition Monitoring (ACM) system that focused on the management of critical assets like lifts and escalators. Although widespread in
some industries, ACM systems have
traditionally been challenging to deploy within the rail and Underground networks, due to limited GPRS coverage and large geographical spread. Unlike other commercially available systems, Telent’s ACM system is a cost effective and viable option for the rail industry.
Our expertise in SCADA and station management systems development, paired with our established position as communications specialists, means we’re perfectly poised to deliver our Asset Condition Monitoring system into the rail environment.
With lifts and escalators, as with many electro- mechanical systems, the risk of failure increases
with age and use. The impact of failure can be signifi cant, leading to trapped passengers, service delays and abatements.
Prior to the Olympics, 30 hydraulic lifts, crucial for the movement of mobility-impaired passengers from ticket offi ce level to platform level, across 11 key stations were identifi ed as a key performance risk, and data from those assets was analysed. The root cause of failure was found to be the cooling of the hydraulic system.
The ACM system is designed to remotely monitor an asset’s critical components, in order to provide early warning of issues and predict failures. The Telent team developed the remote monitoring hardware, user interface software and installed the equipment within the lifts. After a period of commissioning, the system went live, delivering data to a central database and a web delivered data trending and analysis portal.
For the customer, this translates to being able to check the status of each asset through red, amber and green traffi c light style alerts. They can also be further advised of impending issues through immediate text alerts and simple web-based trends. Telent’s system features a web interface tailored to the customer and accessible on any web browser, including PCs, tablets and smartphones, meaning users on site are just as able to use the system as offi ce-based
colleagues.
Beyond the obvious safety and service benefi ts associated with reduced failures, there are further considerable cost savings to be made by enhancing the lifespan of assets and improving the ratio of planned to unplanned maintenance. By making data available to those responsible for maintenance, effectiveness and accountability can be managed more easily.
Of course, the potential for Telent’s ACM system stretches beyond lifts and escalators. With ongoing experience in the remote monitoring of pumps, fans, baggage handling, heating and ventilation systems, it is unsurprising that Telent can now offer asset condition monitoring across any range or combination of assets.
The UK passenger infrastructure network is one of the most complex networks of its kind in the world and Telent are instrumental in making it one of the most reliable.
There is no doubt that rolling out ACM technology will deliver signifi cant benefi ts to the rail industry, but will also improve passenger experience to the point that non-interrupted service becomes the norm.
FOR MORE INFORMATION T: 01926 693000
rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 13 | 41
Reg Cook
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